LEGENDARY comedian Joan Rivers has died aged 81, after her family switched of her life support, her daughter Melissa has confirmed.

Rivers had been fighting for life since suffering a heart attack during routine surgery last week. The New York state health department is investigating the circumstances surrounding Rivers’ cardiac arrest during an outpatient procedure.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” said Melissa in a statement.

“She passed peacefully at 1:17pm surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.

“Cooper and I have found ourselves humbled by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers we have received from around the world. They have been heard and appreciated.

“My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon.”

Rivers will be laid to rest this Sunday at New York’s Temple Emanu-El, according to the New York Post.

Melissa and Joan Rivers in New York. Pic: Getty.Source:Supplied

Rivers in 2012. Photo: AFPSource:AFP

Joan Rivers was rushed to hospital one week ago after she reportedly went into cardiac arrest during a surgical procedure on her vocal chords at a New York doctor’s office.

The 81-year-old was placed into a medically induced coma at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Her daughter Melissa rushed to the hospital from Los Angeles to be by her mum’s side.

Melissa Rivers kept a bedside vigil and just yesterday released a statement saying that her mum had been moved out of intensive care and was resting comfortably in a private room.

She also asked fans to pray for Joan, saying, “On behalf of my mother and our family, we are extremely grateful for all the love and support we’ve received.

“I know my mother would be overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of kindness and I want to thank everyone for keeping us in their prayers.”

Joan Rivers in 1965. Photo: AP Photo/Dan Grossi, File.Source:AP

Born in Brooklyn into a middle-class Jewish family, Rivers became famous for her razor sharp tongue, often cracking hilarious one-liners at the expense of the world’s biggest celebrities.

Originally known as Joan Alexandra Molinsky, she struggled with weight as a child, describing herself as a ‘fatty’ and used make-believe to escape. She worked in the fashion industry before starting out in stand-up under the stage name Joan Rivers. She supported herself with secretarial work and got her big break in 1965 when she was invited to appear as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Rivers struck up an immediate rapport with the King of late night TV and in 1983 she was named as the permanent guest host who would fill in when Carson was away.

But in 1986 Rivers and Carson had a falling out when she signed a deal with rival network Fox to host her own late night program, The Late Show starring Joan Rivers.

Joan Rivers talks with Nancy Reagen in 1986 on "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," in Los Angeles.Source:AP

“He (Carson) loved me, loved me, loved me, and I left his show very honourably to do my own show,” said Rivers in an interview a few years ago.

“Then the minute I was competition for him, he cut me off at the knees. He said I never called him, and it followed me for 10 years. I would go on a set, and people would say, `We heard you were terrible to work with.’

It was NBC who did that to me. I’ve never done Jay Leno, but I’m sort of glad about that. He wouldn’t know what to do with someone funny.”

Rivers in 2005. Photo: AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File.Source:AP

Her late night show was axed less than a year after it started due to poor ratings but things were about to get even worse for Rivers in her personal life.

Her second husband, who she had been married to for 22 years, committed suicide in 1987.

A week after his death, Rivers took her daughter Melissa out to an expensive restaurant and joked, “If daddy were alive and he could see these prices, he’d kill himself all over again”.

Nothing was off-limits for Joan Rivers.

“That’s how I get through life. God has given us this gift of humour,” she told New York Magazine in 1987. “Animals don’t laugh,”

Joan Rivers in 1989.Source:AP

Her signature phrase “Can we talk?” was used as an icebreaker before verbally drop-kicking the object of her ridicule. She was renowned for tackling taboo subjects, with some of her funniest material coming from her love life, ageing and death.

“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century,” she once said.

In later years, Rivers became known for her love of plastic surgery, taken to excess with her exaggerated cheek bones and her preternaturally wrinkle-free face.

In a 2010 “Late Show” interview, David Letterman broached the plastic surgery issue: “You don’t look exactly like the Joan Rivers I used to know.” Rivers was unapologetic.

“Our business is so youthful. ... You do little tweaks, and I think if a woman wants to look good, or a man, do it,” she said. “It’s not about anybody else.”

She also reinvented herself as the host of “Fashion Police,” a show that offered running critiques of the red carpet attire worn by the glitterati at the Oscars and other A-list events. The show was produced by her daughter Melissa.

A tribute on The New York Times wrote that Rivers had evolved from a “sassy, self-deprecating performer early in her career into a coarser assassin, slashing at celebrities and others with a rapier wit that some critics called comic genius.”

While some people called it “vicious” she “left millions of people in stitches” the paper wrote.

But she had also sparked controversy with outspoken remarks on the Middle East and, on one occasion, when the butt of her humour was the survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks.

This morning, celebrities have taken to Twitter to express their sadness at her death, while flowers were laid on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dear Joan , 12 years being the butt of your jokes ...Then we met, had a laugh and I learned you were something amazing . Shine on. RIP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended heartfelt condolences for the loss of a comedy icon who brought laughter to millions around the world and was a vocal supporter of Israel. Meanwhile, others have tweeted some of their favourite lines from the star including an extract from her book in which she describes her funeral.